MMAWeekly’s Jim Grieshaber and Jeff Cain break down the weekly news in MMA and talk about the upcoming UFC events in Las Vegas.

The boys also wrap up the UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns event that featured 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman’s come-from-behind TKO stoppage of Gilbert Burns. The victory launched Usman past Georges St-Pierre for the most consecutive welterweight victories in UFC history.

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TRENDING Gina Carano fires back on being canceled; Dana White expresses support for her

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-258-fallout-whats-next-after-kamaru-usmans-record-setting-victory

Colby Covington apparently wants no part of the “charity business” of accepting a fight with Leon Edwards on March 13, despite UFC president Dana White publicly pushing for the bout.

Edwards hasn’t fought in more than a year and a half. He was supposed to face Khamzat Chimaev on several occasions, most recently slated for March 13 in Las Vegas. COVID-19 has disrupted the bout three times now, as Chimaev deals with lingering health issues from the disease.

During functions around UFC 258 this past week, White publicly pushed for Covington to step up and face Edwards, who is ranked No. 3 in the welterweight division and on an eight-fight winning streak.

Covington is currently ranked No. 1 at welterweight, coming off of a win over Tyron Woodley after having been knocked out by current champion Kamaru Usman.

Leon Edwards wants the fight with Colby Covington

Edwards is all in, telling The Bash MMA recently, “I know the fight sounds good to me and my team. The UFC wants the fight. I don’t know, he might go running again. You never know. I’m ready to go, the UFC’s ready to go, they’re pushing for the fight.”

Despite Edwards being primed and ready to fight on March 13, Covington downplayed the idea, calling it “charity business.”

“Leon Scott hasn’t earned anything, boys. I’m in the Colby Covington Incorporated championship business, I’m not in the Leon Scott charity business. This isn’t charity hour, man. I’m fighting at the top of the mountain, I’m fighting the best in the world,” Covington said in a recent interview with Submission Radio, making fun of Edwards’s name.

“Did Marty Fakenewsman get a call from the president after his last fight? Oh geez, I wonder why? Because he sucks, he’s irrelevant. So, I’ve done things no one has ever done in this sport. I’m not doing charity busines no more. It’s not my fault this kid hasn’t fought in two years. It’s not my fault this kid – there’s people from England fighting all the time in the pandemic, they’re not scared to fight. So, I’m not doing charity for this guy who hasn’t fought in two years. He’s irrelevant, he’s beat a bunch of bums, and I’m not doing charity. This isn’t charity hour, this is f—ing championship f—ing pay-per-view hour.”

Colby Covington shoots down Jorge Masvidal, says he should fight Kamaru Usman next

Though Usman called out Jorge Masvidal for a rematch following his win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 over the weekend, Covington shot down that idea as well. He insists that Masvidal is not the fight that people want to see in the UFC welterweight division, they want to see him get another crack at Usman, though he is little more than a year removed from the loss to him.

“The people want to see one fight. They want to see the rematch, Marty Fakenewsman, Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington part two. Are you f—ing kidding me? It’s a joke. It was the biggest corruption in the history of the sport. Are you kidding me? I was destroying him. He got lucky and he knows that. He got life rafts thrown to him multiple times. Why doesn’t he want to run it back with me? Oh, because I’m the toughest dog in the pack. If I was the easy dog in the pack, he’d be coming after me, but he’s not.

“I deserve and I earned a fight for the world title. I just destroyed the former champion, finished him like nobody’s finished him before in the UFC. I came back and won a fight, what has Jorge Masvidal done besides sit on the sidelines and fake f—ing pull out of fights? He’s scared to fight. He knows he’s washed up, he’s a journeyman. He’s looking for one more pay day. No one wants to see that guy fight for the title, they know what’s gonna happen. It’s gonna be the same exact outcome. And why reward a coward like that? A guy that’s blatantly scared to fight?”

TRENDING Georges St-Pierre addresses potential UFC return to fight Kamaru Usman

Dana White: Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman’s next fights?

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/colby-covington-wants-no-part-of-ufc-charity-fight-with-leon-edwards-rips-on-jorge-masvidal

He may not be the most popular champion in the UFC but, make no mistake, Kamaru Usman is one of the most dominant athletes in the promotion right now.

Usman’s finish of Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 saw his stock rise to a new level after he registered his 17th consecutive win and his 13th in the UFC. He also notched his third straight title defense to give him wins over each of the 170-pound division’s top four contenders.

Thanks to Usman’s dominance at the top of the division, there’s a dearth of viable contenders at the top of the 170-pound rankings, with Usman rapidly approaching the territory previously occupied by the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Demetrious Johnson as champions who had virtually cleaned out their division.

But Usman took matters into his own hands during his post-fight interview when he stared down the barrel of the camera and issued his challenge to former foe Jorge Masvidal, who stepped up to face him on just six days’ notice in a losing effort at UFC 251.

Masvidal insists things will be very different in a rematch, and Usman’s response, directly challenging “Gamebred” to a second bout, has done all of the groundwork needed to not just tee up his next title defense, but to produce a matchup that should prove a hit at the box office.

After headlining an event with very little big-name support on the undercard, Usman deserves a big stage, and a big fight card, for his next outing. By calling out Masvidal he’s gone a long way to ensuring his next bout is a big one, too.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-kamaru-usman-khabib-nurmagomedov-conor-mcgregor-dustin-poirier-top-power-index-feb-8-14

British MMA pioneer and former UFC fighter Paul Kelly will no longer compete in the cage.

The 36-year-old from Liverpool announced his retirement from MMA in a lengthy Instagram post made Monday. Kelly (15-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) said his passion and drive to compete in MMA is not what it used to be. And with the coronavirus pandemic slowing the sport to a crawl, Kelly can’t afford another lengthy layoff at this stage in his career.

“I had my time! and I would never change my path. MMA give me a life I would never have dreamed of , Met people I would never have met. No drug can compare to the feeling of getting your hand raised after walking out for a straighter with 20k watching.

“At some point we have to let go, I was full committed to trying one more time with the gaffer @teamkaobon to win a British title. Covid has taken another year so am calling it a day.

“My life is on a different path now, one that means I can’t commit my life to fighting anymore like my opponent will be.
Winning is winning and for me now winning is making sure my family have bright future and to play catch up for the last 6 1/2 years spent away. I’ll miss fighting.”

Kelly last fought in March 2020, stopping Simone Bottino in the second round at Probellum 1: Liverpool. It was his comeback fight, as he had been away from the fight game for seven years due to a lengthy prison sentence for drug trafficking.

Kelly competed in the UFC from 2008-11. He entered the Las-Vegas-based promotion undefeated and fought several notable names at 155 pounds such as Donald Cerrone, Dennis Siver and Marcus Davis. Kelly also took home two “Fight of the Night” awards during his run with the UFC.

Kelly was one of the early fighters representing the U.K. under the UFC banner. He retires on a three-fight winning streak.

Below is Kelly’s full post announcing retirement:

A post shared by Paul Kelly (@paulkellymma)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/former-ufc-fighter-paul-kelly-announces-retirement-from-mma

A pair of rising English contenders will collide in London as undefeated English middleweights Will Currie and Christian Duncan prepare to face off in Cage Warriors’ latest “Trilogy” series.

Cage Warriors officials confirmed to MMA Junkie that the pair will go head to head on the main card of Cage Warriors 120, which takes place Thursday, March 18 at York Hall. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass, and forms the first leg of the promotion’s three-night “Trilogy” series at the venue.

The matchup will see two of England’s most promising up-and-coming 185-pounders face off in a bid to move one step closer to a shot at reigning Cage Warriors middleweight champion Nathias Frederick.

Currie (5-0) made an instant impact on his promotional debut at Cage Warriors 119 in December 2020 as he handed then-unbeaten Italian prospect Dario Bellandi his first career defeat in a dominant display in London.

Now “Drago” will return to action to face spectacular striker Duncan (2-0) whose transition to the professional ranks in 2020 saw him claim a pair of eye-catching knockout victories.

The IMMAF European silver and world bronze medallist finished Kyle McClurkin via second-round knockout on his professional debut at Cage Warriors 116 in September 2020, then followed up with a spectacular spinning back kick finish of Lucasz Marcinkowski at Cage Warriors 119 in December.

Also confirmed for the card is a featherweight bout between England’s James Hendin (5-0) and Irish prospect Paul Hughes (6-1). That bout was first announced by “The Bash” podcast.

With the additions, the lineup for Cage Warriors 120 includes:

• James Hendin vs. Paul Hughes
• Will Currie vs. Christian Duncan

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/cage-warriors-120-undefeated-middleweights-set-for-action-in-london